The use of inhalation devices in the administration of medicaments, for example in bronchodilation therapy is well known. Such devices generally comprise a body or housing within which a medicament carrier is located. Known inhalation devices include those in which the medicament carrier is a blister strip containing a number of discrete doses of powdered medicament. Such devices usually contain a mechanism of accessing these doses, usually comprising either piercing means or means to peel a lid sheet away from a base sheet. The powdered medicament can then be accessed and inhaled. Such a mechanism may also be used for dispensing medicament in tablet form wherein peeling away the lid sheet from the base sheet reveals a tablet for removal and subsequent consumption.
Therapies involving combinations of different and complementary active medicaments are known. These can be administered either as distinct combination (i.e. multi-active) medicament products, which comprise a defined mixture of each component medicament, or as groups of single active medicament products, which are designed to be taken in combination or sequentially. Whilst combination products offer added convenience for the patient, certain medicament actives are difficult to formulate as distinct combination products. For example, the actives may interact chemically with each other in an undesirable way when formulated together.
It is thus, desirable in certain circumstances, to have a medicament dispenser that separately (i.e. in isolated fashion) contains each active component (or mixture thereof) of a combination product, but which enables the delivery of a combined dose in response to a minimum number of patient actions. In particular, it is desirable that all active components of the combined dose are delivered to the patient in a single, combined dose in response to a single patient dosing action. For example, it is desirable that a combination inhaled medicament product be delivered in response to a single actuation of an inhaler, even where the active components of that combined product are separately stored within the inhaler device.
The Applicants have now found that a particularly effective way to meet the above described desiderata is provided by a medicament dispenser which comprises plural, separate elongate form medicament carriers (e.g. blister strips), each containing in isolated fashion, a different medicament active (or mixture thereof), wherein the dispenser enables release of the medicament actives from each separate blister strip to provide a combined dose for administration to a patient.